Human amusement ride

ABSTRACT

An amusement ride for humans which is constructed to include a plurality of separate tracks located in a side-by-side relationship. On each track is located a vehicle, with this vehicle including a propulsion system which is activated and controlled by a human operator located within the vehicle. The vehicle is mounted in conjunction with a track which keeps each vehicle confined to its particular track and permits the vehicle to move between a Start position and Finish position on the track. Associated with each track is an automatic brake system to stop the vehicle. Each track is composed of a plurality of separate guide rail sections which are located in a spaced apart arrangement with the separate guide rail sections being mounted in an in-line manner within the track. A guide blade is mounted on each vehicle and is to connect with each of these guide rail sections as the vehicle moves along the track.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1) Field of the Invention

The field of this invention relates to an amusement ride for humans andmore particularly to an amusement ride which is designed to be locatedas a portable or permanent establishment within an amusement park.

2) Description of the Prior Art

Amusement parks are a common form of entertainment for humans. Includedwithin these amusement parks are a plurality of different types ofamusement rides. Amusement rides using automobiles of various types havelong been known. However, it has not been known to utilize a dragstervehicle amusement ride.

A dragster type of vehicle is an automobile which races from a standingstop over a preset length course as fast as possible. To construct anamusement ride incorporating a dragster type of vehicle has previouslybeen thought to be unsafe. The vehicle would have to be confined to aparticular track and be stoppable even if the operator did not stop thevehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The amusement ride of the present invention is to include a plurality ofparallel tracks, such as for example ten in number of such tracks. Eachtrack is identical and mounted within each track is a vehicle. Thevehicle is to be occupied by a human operator. Each track includes aStart position and a Finish position with the typical track length beingapproximately 370 feet. All the vehicles are to be locked in position bya braking system at the Start position prior to initiation of a race.Each of the vehicles has mounted thereon a guide blade which extendsunderneath the vehicle. The guide blade engages with a track andspecifically engages with a plurality of spaced apart, in-line, seriesof separate sections of a guide rail assembly. The ends of thesesections are mounted in a closely spaced arrangement from each othergenerally no more than a few inches. Mounted on each guide blade is aretainer bar with this retainer bar being located within a retainingchannel mounted within a track. The connection between the retainer barand the retaining channel prevents vertical disengaging movement of thevehicle relative to the track. Beyond the Finish section of the trackthere is located a series of separate, longitudinal braking units whichare located in a spaced apart manner.

The primary objective of the present invention is to construct anentertaining amusement ride for humans with this ride being permanentlylocated in a theme park or some other similar type of humanentertainment area.

Another objective of the present invention is to construct an amusementride which can be operated in total safety for the operating human evenin the event that the human is not able to operate the vehicle.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an amusementride which will substantially duplicate the operation of a dragster typeof vehicle on a race track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of the track utilized in conjunctionwith the amusement ride of the present invention showing a vehicle beingmounted on the track;

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view through the portion of thetrack to the rear of the Start line showing the position of the vehiclerelative to the track;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the track taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2showing the position of the vehicle in phantom lines relative to thetrack;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view through a portion of the track of theamusement ride of this invention taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through a portion of thetrack of the amusement ride of this invention taken along line 5--5 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a top view of one of the braking units included within theamusement ride of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view through one of the braking units takenalong line 7--7 of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring particularly to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 atypical arrangement for the track 10 upon which the dragster vehicle 12is to be operated. Track 10 has a Start line 14 and a Finish line 16.There is to be about 175 feet between the Start line 14 and the Finishline 16. The vehicle 12 is to be located in FIG. 1 in the drawings atwhich time the human operator is to enter into the vehicle 12. The rearwheels 18 of the vehicle 12 each rest on a pair of rollers 20 and 22.The rollers 20 and 22 are mounted within the cement base 24 of the track10. The wheels 18 will rest only on the rollers 20 and 22. The wheels 18constitute the drive wheels for the vehicle 12. The rollers 20 and 22are permitted to rotate and the operator of the vehicle 12 can rev upthe engine of the vehicle 12 while it is in gear and produce a situationsimilar to conventional drag racers when they "burn out" their tires.While this revving is occurring, there is included a brake unit 26 thatis engaged with the guide blade 28 which is mounted under the vehicle12. The construction of the brake unit 26 is shown in more detail inFIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings and will be explained further on in theSpecification.

The human operator, after completing of the "burn out" of the rear tires18, is to then slowly move the vehicle 12 toward the Start line 14. Thisslow movement is permitted because the brake unit 26 will be released.Also the rollers 20 and 22 will be locked in position preventing theirrotation. The locking means for the rollers is not shown within thedrawings. The human operator is to move the vehicle 12 slowly four andone-half feet to the Pre-stage line 30. It is to be understood thatthere will be a plurality of tracks 10 located in a side-by-sidearrangement with there being a vehicle 12 engaged with each track 10.The Pre-stage line 30 is just before the Start line 14. At thisparticular position the operator will locate the front wheels 32 of thevehicle 12 at this Pre-stage line 30 and then is to slowly inch forwardthe vehicle 12 until it reaches the Start line 14. Again, this is atypical mode of operating in an actual drag race.

When the start is initiated for the vehicle 12, the human operator willaccelerate the vehicle 12 from the Start line to a maximum speed whichwill occur at or just prior to the Finish line 16. As the vehicleproceeds past the Finish line, the guide blade 28 will come into contactwith the brake units 26 in a sequential manner which were located in thebraking position at the time the amusement ride was initiated. Eachbrake unit 26 will be about five feat in length with there being a guiderail section 34 mounted between each pair of brake units 26. After theFinish line 16, there will be mounted ten brake units 26 and eight guiderail sections 34 within about 130 feet of the track 10. After the lastbrake unit 26, there will be located forty feet of additional guide railsections 34. This last forty feet of guide rail sections is for thepurpose of providing additional stopping area for the vehicle 12 if suchis needed.

The vehicle 12 includes a metallic tubular frame 36. Welded to the frame36 are a plurality of U-shaped brackets 38. Generally there will be atleast four to five in number of the brackets starting adjacent the frontwheels 32 and proceeding back toward the rear wheels 18. These brackets38 will be longitudinally oriented along the longitudinal center axis ofthe vehicle 12. The approximate distance from the rearward most bracket38 to the forward most bracket 38 will be about twelve feet with thetotal length of the vehicle being about seventeen feet. The brackets 38are bolted by bolts 40 to a pair of L-shaped members 42. The L-shapedbrackets 42 are to be positioned so that there is a slight space 44therebetween. Mounted within that space 44 is the guide blade 28 withbolts 46 being used to securely fix the guide blade to the brackets 38and hence, to the frame 36 of the vehicle 12. The total length of theguide blade 28 will be approximately twelve feet. The forward most edge48 of the guide blade 28 is sharply pointed as is also the rearward mostedge 50. The reason for this pointing of the edges of the guide blade isso that these edges will function as a cam surface as it moves along thetrack 10 between the separate (spaced apart) guide rail sections 34 andbrake units 26.

Cement section 24 is to be poured within the ground or other surface soas to include a center channel 52. It is within that center channel 52that the guide rail sections 34 and the brake units 26 are to belocated. Each guide rail section 34 is ten feet in length (actually ninefeet ten inches) with the exception of a single guide rail section offive feet in length located directly adjacent the Pre-stage line 30.Each guide rail section 34 is to be composed of a pair of oppositelyfacing U-shaped members 54 which are located so as to form a slot 56therebetween. The guide blade 28 will be positioned within the slot 56.The members 54 will normally be constructed of steel. The members 54 arefixedly mounted on a pair of upstanding plates 60 with it beingunderstood that there is only a U-shaped member 54 mounted on a singleupstanding plate 60. The upstanding plates 60 are in turn welded to abase plate 58. Each base plate 58 is fixedly mounted by bolts 62 to thecement 24.

The upstanding plates 60 are each covered by a top plate 64 with itbeing understood that there are two in number of top plates 64 extendingthe entire longitudinal length of the guide rail section 34. The topplates 64 form a space which is defined as a retaining channel 66between the top plates 64 and U-shaped members 54. Within the retainingchannel 66 is to be located a retainer bar 68. The retainer bar 68 isactually composed of two sections, one on the right side of the guideblade 28 and the other on the left side of the guide blade 28 which aresecured together by means of a series of bolts 70. This can be readilyseen in FIG. 4. The retainer bar 68 will prevent the guide blade fromdisengaging from the slot 66 by movement in an upward direction sincethe retainer bar 68 will come into contact with the undersurface of thetop plates 64 and prevent this upward directional movement. This is tomake sure that the vehicle 12 will always remain connected to the track10 with separation of the vehicle from the track 10 being prevented inthe upward direction.

The end of each guide rail section 34 is flared in an outwardly directedmanner. This means that the top plates 64 are actually shaped outwardlyto form an increased area 72 of the space 74 between the top plates 64.This flaring of the ends of the guide rail section 34, coupled with thesharp pointed creation of the ends of the guide blade 28, such as isshown at 48 and 50, ensure that as the vehicle 12 moves alone the track10, it will smoothly engage with each guide rail section 34 as it movesfrom one section to the other. It is to be understood that there is aspacing between the guide rail sections 34 of generally a few inches.This is desirable so as to provide room for installation and alignmentas the guide rail sections 34 are installed. These ton foot lengths forthe guide rail sections 34 are a convenient size to be installed. Graterlengths for the guide rail sections 34 would result in these sectionsbecoming hard to handle and difficult to install.

Each of the brake units 26 are in themselves deemed to be conventionaland are in common use in conjunction with amusement rides such as rollercoasters. Each brake unit 26 has a longitudinal through opening 76 whichis to be aligned with the slots 56 of the guide rail sections 34. Eachend of the brake units 26 are flared forming widened slot areas 78 and79. Again the flaring of the ends 78 and 79 is for the same reason thatthe guide rail section 34 is flared at ends 72. Each brake unit 26includes a pair of brake pads 80. Each brake pad 80 is mounted on aU-shaped member 82 with it being understood that there are two U-shapedmembers 82. Each U-shaped member 82 is adjustably mounted on a framemember 84. The frame members 84 are fixedly secured to a base 86 withthis base 86 being fixedly mounted on the cement 24 by means of boltfasteners 88.

Located interiorly of the U-shaped member 82 is an elastomeric bladder90 with it being understood there are two in number of such bladders 90.The bladders 90 are connected through supply tubes 92 to a source (notshown) of pressurized air. The bladders 90 each rest on a spacer block94 located within the space 96 formed between the U-shaped member 82 andthe fixed upward extension section 98 of the base 86. Therefore, bysupplying pressurized air into the interior chamber 100 of the bladders90, the U-shaped members 82 will be moved .Iadd.from a non-brakingposition .Iaddend.relative to the frame members 84 .Iadd.to a brakingposition .Iaddend.slightly closing the space 76 therebetween. . .This.!..Iadd.The braking position .Iaddend.will result in applying of a brakingforce onto the guide blade 28 by brake pads 80 .Iadd.when the guideblade 28 is located in juxtaposition with brake pads 80.Iaddend..

After the vehicle 10 has reached the Finish line 16, almost immediatelythe first brake unit 26 will start to apply pressure to the guide blade28. This will start the stopping process for the vehicle 12. The guideblade is twelve feet in length. So as it slides through the first brakeunit 26 after the Finish line 16, it will then move through a ten footguide rail section 34 and then come into contact with a second brakeunit while it is still engaged with the first brake unit 26. Actually,for about two feet in length at each end of the guide blade 28, theguide blade 28 will be engaged with two separate brake units 26. Sincebraking force is directly proportional to the area of the brakingsurface, when the guide blade 28 gets to the last two feet of engagementwith a braking unit 26, the braking force is substantially decreased.However, by engaging the guide blade 28 with another brake unit 26,increased braking force is obtained. This stopping procedure willcontinue through the entire series of brake units which will be ten innumber over the one hundred and thirty foot length. At the end of thisone hundred and thirty foot length, the vehicle 12 should be completelystopped and actually should be stopped by the sixth or seventh brakeunit, not requiring usage of all ten.

When the vehicle has come to a stop, the vehicle is put into reverse bythe operator and moved back to the starting position with the tires 18reengaging with the rollers 20. Brake unit 26 located near the Startline is used to slow the reverse speed of the vehicle as it approachesthe rollers 20 and 22. At this time there should be a change of humanoperators for the vehicle 10 with the operating procedure for thevehicle 12 to be repeated on the track 10.

What is claimed is:
 1. A human amusement ride comprising:a track havinga Start position, a Finish position and a braking area located past saidFinish position; a vehicle within which a human is to be located, saidvehicle being mounted on said track, said vehicle to move from saidStart position to said Finish position and then into said braking area;a guide rail assembly included within said track, said guide railassembly being formed of a plurality of separate guide rail sections,each said guide rail section having a longitudinal through slot, saidguide rail sections being mounted in an in-line manner with said slotsbeing aligned, said guide rail sections being slightly spaced apart fromeach other, each said slot terminating in ends; a guide blade mounted onsaid vehicle, said guide blade to connect with said slots as saidvehicle moves along said track, said guide blade to be continuously inengagement with said slots; and said track including a retainingchannel, a retainer bar mounted on said guide blade, said retainer barto be located within said retaining channel, said retainer bar toprevent vertical movement of said vehicle sufficient to result indisengagement of said vehicle from said track.
 2. The human amusementride as defined in claim 1 wherein:each said end of each said guide railsection being flared forming an increased width of said slot.
 3. Thehuman amusement ride as defined in claim 1 wherein:said guide bladebeing greater than one-half the length of said vehicle.
 4. The humanamusement ride as defined in claim 1 wherein:said track having aplurality of rollers located directly adjacent said Start position, saidvehicle having rear wheels, said rear wheels to be locatable on saidrollers, whereby the human can cause said rear wheels to spin on saidrollers prior to moving on said track from said Start position to saidFinish position.
 5. The human amusement ride as defined in claim 1including:a braking arrangement mounted within said braking area of saidtrack, said braking arrangement including a plurality of separate brakeunits, said separate brake units being located in a spaced apartarrangement.
 6. The human amusement ride as defined in claim 5wherein:each said brake unit having a longitudinal length ofapproximately five feet, said brake units being spaced apartapproximately ten feet.
 7. The human amusement ride as defined in claim5 wherein:said braking arrangement including a single brake unit locateddirectly adjacent said Start position, the remaining said brake unitsbeing located directly adjacent said Finish position.
 8. The humanamusement ride as defined in claim 7 wherein:each said end of each saidguide rail section being flared forming an increased width of said slot.9. The human amusement ride as defined in claim 8 wherein:said guideblade being greater than one-half the length of said vehicle.
 10. Thehuman amusement ride as defined in claim 9 wherein:said track having aplurality of rollers located directly adjacent said Start position, saidvehicle having rear wheels, said rear wheels to be locatable on saidrollers, whereby the human can cause said rear wheels to spin on saidrollers prior to moving on said track from said Start position to saidFinish position. .Iadd.
 11. A human amusement ride comprising:a trackhaving a Start position, a Finish position and a braking area locatedpast said Finish position; a vehicle within which a human is to belocated, said vehicle being mounted on said track, said vehicle to movefrom said Start position to said Finish position and then into saidbraking area; a guide rail assembly included within said track, saidguide rail assembly having at least one guide rail section, said guiderail section having a longitudinal through slot; a guide blade mountedon said vehicle, said guide blade to connect with said slot as saidvehicle that moves along said track, said guide blade to be continuouslyin engagement with said slot; and a braking arrangement mounted withinsaid braking area of said track, said braking arrangement beingpositioned to move between a non-braking position and a brakingposition, said braking arrangement, in said braking position, applying aforce against said guide blade to cause said vehicle to slow, said guideblade being positioned to both guide said vehicle in conjunction withsaid slot and brake said vehicle by said braking arrangement..Iaddend..Iadd.
 12. A human amusement ride comprising:a track having aStart position, a Finish position and a braking area located past saidFinish position; a vehicle within which a human is to be located, saidvehicle being mounted on said track, said vehicle to move from saidStart position to said Finish position and then into said braking area;a guide rail assembly included within said track, said guide railassembly having at least one guide rail section, said guide rail sectionhaving a longitudinal through slot; a guide blade mounted on saidvehicle, said guide blade to connect with said slot as said vehicle thatmoves along said track, said guide blade to be continuously inengagement with said slot; and said guide blade being greater thanone-half the length of said vehicle. .Iaddend..Iadd.
 13. The humanamusement ride as defined in claim 11 wherein:said braking arrangementincluding a plurality of separate brake units, said separate brake unitsbeing located in a spaced-apart arrangement. .Iaddend..Iadd.
 14. Thehuman amusement ride as defined in claim 13 wherein:each said brake unithaving a longitudinal length of approximately five feet, said brakeunits being spaced-apart approximately ten feet. .Iaddend..Iadd.
 15. Thehuman amusement ride as defined in claim 14, wherein:said brakingarrangement also including a single brake unit located directly adjacentsaid Start position, the remaining said brake units being locateddirectly adjacent said Finish position. .Iaddend.